State appellate court rules Auburn man denied due process and dismisses his indictment and conviction

AUBURN, NY -- An Auburn man will be released from prison soon after a state appellate court ruled he was denied due process and dismissed his contempt of court indictment and conviction, his lawyer said today.

In the ruling, which was released on Friday, the Rochester-based court criticized Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann’s handling of the case.

The court said Budelmann should have allowed Martin Nagel to have a lawyer with him when Nagel was called from prison to testify before a grand jury in 2008. The court also said Budelmann should have explained to Nagel that he would have received immunity in exchange for his testimony to the jury.

“Consequently we agree that the defendant was denied due process of the law,’’ the court said.

Auburn lawyer David Elkovitch, who represented Nagel in the appeal, said the appellate court made the right call.

“The DA’s office should take responsibility for the rights of everyone since the DA’s job is to do justice for everyone in the state. Martin Nagel’s a citizen of the state and he’s been in prison longer than he should have been,’’ Elkovitch said.

Nagel, 55, formerly of West Genesee Street, was serving 30 months in prison on a 2008 felony drug-related conviction. Budelmann called Nagel to testify before a grand jury hearing evidence in a different drug case.

Nagel had no idea as to why he was called to testify, and he refused to answer any questions before the jury for fear his testimony could incriminate him, according to Elkovitch.

A year later a jury found Nagel guilty of felony first-degree contempt of court and he was sentenced to two- to four-years imprisonment on top of his drug sentence. He was to get out of prison on his first sentence on Aug. 1, Elkovitch said.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher Valdina, who argued against Nagel’s appeal, said he “respectfully’’ disagreed with the court ruling that Nagel was denied due process.

Valdina said Nagel knew what was going on when it came to immunity and added, “He didn’t have a lawyer and he didn’t ask for a lawyer so we didn’t keep him from having a lawyer.’’